AIDS epidemic origin may point to new treatments
MRC research findings show that harnessing monkeys’ natural mechanisms of resistance to HIV might provide new methods for combating AIDS. A team at the MRC National Institute for Medical Research pinpointed crucial differences in a gene found in rhesus monkeys that can prevent HIV infection, and its human counterpart, that cannot. These differences indicate that only a single change in the human version of the gene would be needed to enable it to interfere with the replication process of the HIV virus and prevent infection.
Current Biology 2005; 15: 73-78